


Surf Side Memories

by phoenixreal, SapphireTou



Category: Naruto
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-11-01 07:47:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireTou/pseuds/SapphireTou
Summary: Naruto leaves an abusive home to find people that loved and cared about him in the past. He doesn't expect to meet Sasuke in his wanderings looking for his godparents. Injured and unsure, Naruto finds Kakashi and Iruka, who are surprised to see him after the years since his parents died. There's more going on in the beach-side city of Konoha though, and Naruto has landed right in the middle of things.





	1. Memory

It wasn’t really the pain that bothered Naruto so much as the embarrassment that came along with it. It was his fault, as usual. He knew exactly the kind of things that would set off his foster father, a man named Mizuki. Naruto had been with him for a long time, and at first, things had been okay. Well, as okay as they possibly could be for a five-year-old that lost both his parents to a fatal car accident. But while Mizuki’s wife was there, things weren’t so bad. Then, things got terrible when she finally left him. Naruto was certain that the man hated him more than anything in the world, because there were few times that he was not marked in some fashion.

This time had been particularly bad. Mizuki had found Naruto looking at pornography. That in itself wouldn’t have gotten him in trouble, as Mizuki himself had a penchant for watching pornos now and then. The problem was the _kind _of pornography it was. It had been the kind with bisexual men in it, and not just with the women. This infuriated Mizuki and he had flew into a rage at Naruto, beating him enough that he was wondering if he needed a doctor because his side really hurt. Mizuki had called him names, and asked Naruto if he was gay or something. Naruto didn’t know, but he knew that he found both men and women appealing, though he’d never tell Mizuki that fact.

Usually, Naruto didn’t go to the doctor. He’d learned over the years to deal with most things, and sometimes when Mizuki had been particularly violent, he’d give Naruto a shot of some kind of alcohol. It helped, and made him forget things, so he didn’t mind that. So, this time, after Mizuki left to go meet up with a woman for the night, he got a drink out of one of the bottles in the cabinet. He used to bring them home with him, but then the women would ask questions about Naruto, and Mizuki didn’t want to deal with that, so he just took them to a motel. It had been like this for the last few years now.

Now, though, he was nineteen. He’d spent the last year working a part time job at a gas station that was within walking distance. He gave Mizuki most of his paychecks, he had to, but he kept a few dollars back each time. It wasn’t enough to be noticed, but it was something. Yesterday, he’d called the bus station to confirm the price to get a ticket to Konoha, the place where he’d been born and where he had godparents. He could barely remember them, but he knew they were there. They would be able to help him, he was sure of it. He’d found that he’d collected just enough to make it to the beachside city.

He grabbed a plastic bag and shoved his clothes in it, along with the one picture he had of his parents with his god parents. He paused to look at the picture, seeing their smiling faces on the beach, and his mom clutching his hand as he stood between her and his father. Behind them were his godparents, a man named Kakashi and his partner Iruka. He only knew their names for sure because they were written on the back of the photograph.

“I’m going to find you,” he whispered and put the photo away. The edges were bent and worn, and the writing on the back smudged, but he could still make it out.

He stumbled a bit, cradling his side as he walked out into the main room. He should probably tape his ribs up. They were awful sore. He left the bag with his clothes and went to the bathroom, humming to himself as he wrapped the tape tightly around himself. He’d done this before, of course. He’d done a lot of this kind of thing. His wrist was also sore, so he wrapped a bandage around it because he thought he’d sprained it again. He couldn’t do much about the bruise to his jaw. Since he’d turned eighteen, Mizuki had been less careful about marking his face. He knew that he wouldn’t get caught by social services anymore since Naruto was old enough to be on his own. Of course, Naruto hadn’t been able to do that well in school over the years, so his choices afterward had been limited. Mizuki liked to tell him he was dumb and good for nothing because of this, but Naruto knew if he had a chance, he could do well.

None of that mattered, though, because he was getting out of this place. He got up from the toilet lid where he had been sitting and groaned at the pain lancing through his side. He hoped nothing was broken. He couldn’t tell for sure, though. He went out and grabbed his bag. He stopped and turned around to stare back into the house. He was really going to do it. He was really going to leave. He nodded once, turning around and leaving his home for the last nearly fourteen years.

The walk to the bus station was a long one, but he had plenty of time. The bus didn’t leave for three hours. However, his injuries weren’t doing him any favors. He was panting with painful exertion by the time he made it to the bus station. He leaned against the wall on the outside and caught his breath, coughing a little. If he noticed the blood he spit out, he didn’t make any real note of it. He made his way into the station after a few minutes and went up to the counter.

“One-way ticket to Konoha, please,” he said to the man working there.

He looked at him with arched brow. “Okay, what are you going there on a one-way ticket for, boy?”

“I have family there,” he said with a grin as the man asked for the money. Naruto carefully counted out the dollars and coins he had meticulously saved up.

The man behind the counter didn’t say anything about the fact it was all small bills and change; he just took it and counted it himself. “Just barely enough,” he said as he put the money away and printed the ticket. “You have ID? You have to be eighteen to travel without an adult.”

Naruto nodded, pulling out his ID and showing the man. He nodded and handed over the ticket. “Bus 67. Should be here in about an hour.”

“Thanks!” Naruto said and smiled as best he could, staring at the ticket for a minute. A whole year’s worth of work had went toward buying this. He went and sat down on the bench outside to wait for the bus to get there.

It was getting late, but he knew that by tomorrow he would be in Konoha. That was enough to make him happy. His head was full of fond, if foggy, memories of the beach there. He remembered vaguely being on a surfboard and splashing in the water. He knew how to swim really well from a young age, and he could remember the kind eyes of his parents and godparents. He could remember sitting in the sand as the grownups talked around him, and the feel of the waves on his legs. He had hung onto those memories as tightly as he could when his parents died and he was put into foster care. Those memories were everything to him.

About an hour later, bus 67 pulled into the station. He watched as it emptied of people, but he was the only one who seemed to be getting on here. There were still people on the bus, and he got on and found an empty seat to himself. After waiting a while, the door to the bus closed, and they were off. Naruto stared out the window, watching the world he’d known for the last few years disappear from his view. This had to be good. It just had to be.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Sasuke woke up earlier than usual. He tried for a while to get back to sleep but found he couldn’t, so he crawled out of bed and decided to go for a walk on the beach to clear his head. He’d been at the Uchiha family’s beach house for a couple weeks now after his “breakdown” as Itachi put it. He huffed a sigh and poured a cup of coffee in the small kitchen of the place.

It was a nice house, but it needed some work. Sasuke had friends willing to help him with it, but schedules lately hadn’t coincided to get much work done. He glanced over into the dining room where they were stripping old, obnoxious wallpaper to put plain paint on the walls. He looked outside and sighed. Perhaps a walk would be good this morning. It was just after dawn, and it looked like a clear, nice day. He finished his coffee and went to change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to go down to the water.

His mind was on recent events and the different things going on with his family, and he wasn’t really paying attention to where he was walking. After all, this time of day, no one was usually down at the beach, especially here where the private properties were. That was when he nearly tripped over someone crouching on the ground.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Naruto wasn’t sure where to go when he got off the bus. It wasn’t quite dawn yet. He stood in the middle of Konoha and tried desperately to remember anything about where things were, but he had no idea. The last time he’d been here, he’d been five or six, he couldn’t remember when exactly they’d left the beachside town. He sighed, gripping the bag with his clothes tightly and picked a direction to walk. He thought maybe if he went in the direction the wind was coming from, he’d get to the beach. That was all he really knew. They had lived on the beach. There had to be something he recognized if he walked down the beach long enough, he figured.

But first he had to get to the beach. He walked around for a while, not sure what to do. He just kept walking. It wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter. He walked through a residential area and was looking around when he was startled by the loud sound of a car honking. He turned and stared to see a guy leaning out the side of his car glaring at him. It looked like he was trying to back out of the driveway that Naruto was walking in front of at the time.

“Hey, Blondie! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get out of the way!” he yelled.

Hidan was having a busy morning and really didn’t have time for some random blond idiot to get in his way. Beside him, Kakuzu sighed. The pair of bounty hunters were meeting a client a short distance from Konoha.

“What are you waiting on, move it!” Hidan continued, laying on the horn when the kid didn’t move.

Naruto had frozen a second but then saw the lights in the neighboring houses start coming on and he took off away at a run, a little worried about what would happen if more people saw him wandering around so early in the morning.

After a while, he found himself looking down on the beach. He smiled, fond memories filling up his mind and eclipsing even the worst ones. It was so beautiful; just like he remembered. He headed down to the beach and wondered if he’d really be able to find the place where his godfathers lived. He stopped, swallowing hard. What if they didn’t want to see him, though? What then? He’d figure it out then, he thought, continuing on the path down to the water’s edge.

He stood there a while, just staring out over the sea and then started walking down the beach where he could see some houses in the distance. That was the direction he needed to go. He remembered houses close to the beach. He walked for a while, looking at each house as he passed, but he didn’t quite remember any of them. Not clearly anyway. Finally, he crouched down near the water and put both hands in his hair. This was stupid. He really thought that coming here and just walking around was going to tell him where this Kakashi and Iruka were. Would they even care when he did find them?

He was musing that thought over when someone ran into him, knocking him to his butt. He blinked and looked up to see a guy about his age with black hair, looking down at him with a scowl.

“Who the hell are you?” the dark-haired guy asked, frowning.

Naruto just stared at him, not sure what to say.

“Are you an idiot or something, I asked, who are you?” he repeated.

“Um, I’m Naruto,” he said finally, not moving from where he’d fallen. He didn’t really know what to do.

“Are you just going to sit there all day, or are you going to get up?” he asked.

“Um, yeah, sorry,” he stammered as he scrambled to get to his feet. He stood there, arms crossed and staring down at his feet. His side was throbbing, and he was trying not to show the pain he was in at the moment.

“I’ve never seen you here before. You’re on my property, too. What are you doing here?” he demanded.

Naruto was silent again for a minute, then he figured maybe this guy would tell him where to go to get rid of him.

“I’m, uh, looking for my godparents. I thought they lived around here, but I can’t remember what their house looked like exactly, so I was just wandering around trying to recognize it. I’m sorry I’m on your property,” he said finally, pulling the bag in front of him with his clothes and clutching it in both hands.

The dark-haired guy scoffed and looked at him. “Well, who are they?”

Naruto looked up at him and tried to decide what to think of him. He had black hair that fell partially in his face and around it and had hard dark eyes. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, both dark in color. He had both hands on his hips now and was looking at Naruto. He looked annoyed. He swallowed and reached in his back and pulled out the worn picture. It was quickly snatched out of his hand and Naruto let it go. The dark-haired boy turned it over and looked at the smudged writing on the back of it.

“Kakashi and Iruka?” he muttered.

“That’s them,” Naruto said, hoping that this guy knew where they were.

He handed the photo back and Naruto took it and put it back in his bag. The other guy sighed audibly. “Are those your clothes?” he asked.

Naruto looked up and locked eyes with him. He was so intense. “Um, yeah, it’s all I have. I came on the bus this morning.”

“I’m Sasuke Uchiha,” he said finally. “You can come to my house and I’ll call Mr. Hatake.”

Naruto’s eyes widened and he nodded, the thought that this guy knew someone from the photo was enough for any last fears to evaporate. “Y-you know them?”

“Come on, idiot,” Sasuke said and motioned him after him. “They live the next house down the other side of mine. I’d rather not just barge in, though,” he said as he waited for Naruto to come along.

Naruto couldn’t explain how happy he was as he followed Sasuke up the beach to the house. He had actually found the right people to help him. That was more than he had expected for this morning. So far, things were working out much better than he had expected. He was nervous, of course, because he still didn’t know this Sasuke that well, but he really didn’t have a lot of options. He followed him into the place and noticed that the furniture in the living room was all covered in drop cloths.

They came into the dining room and kitchen area where Naruto could see that he had been working on removing wallpaper along a wall. It was obvious he was doing some renovations to the house, so he didn’t comment about it.

Sasuke picked up the phone and looked over to Naruto. “What’s your last name?”

“Uzumaki,” he answered, turning his attention back to Sasuke from looking around the room.

“Okay,” he said and dialed a number on his cell. He waited and then answered. “Yeah, hey. It’s Sasuke Uchiha from next door. Yeah, good to hear from you again. So, I found this guy on the beach looking for you guys. Naruto Uzumaki. Yeah, I can bring him over. Uh huh. Alright, see you in a few.”

Sasuke hung up the phone and looked at Naruto. “He said to bring you over right away.”

Naruto didn’t know what to say, he only nodded. His heart was in his throat as Sasuke led him back outside and across the beach to another house. This one was little bigger than Sasuke’s place. He could barely hold it together as he walked. It didn’t help that his side was throbbing madly, and he was feeling somewhat lightheaded. He wasn’t sure if that was from his injuries or if it was just the situation, though. It didn’t matter, because he couldn’t focus on that right now. He had to focus on what was happening here, and not what happened yesterday.

Sasuke knocked on the door, and it was opened by a man who looked like the one in the photo. He was tall with gray hair spiked a bit over his head. He nodded to Sasuke an then looked at Naruto.

“Naruto?” he asked.

“Y-yeah. Um, hi. I had a picture from when I was a kid, and you were in it. I don’t remember a lot, but I know you from then,” he stammered.

“Come in,” he said, gesturing to Naruto and Sasuke.

Both went into the house and Naruto saw the other man from the picture. He had dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and scar across the bridge of his nose and cheeks. He stared at Naruto as though he weren’t sure if he were really there.

“I can’t believe it’s you, Naruto,” he said.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember much. I just remember bits and pieces of before I was taken in by Mizuki,” Naruto said, clutching the bag he was carrying. He had no idea what to say to them.

The gray-haired one came over and put both hands on Naruto’s shoulders. “I’m Kakashi Hatake. And that’s Iruka Umino. We’re your godparents. We haven’t been able to contact you since you left Konoha, but what happened? You don’t look well,” Kakashi said, frowning at him.

Naruto’s hand went to his face where he knew he was bruised. “N-nothing important. Really. I’m just glad to have found you.”

Kakashi turned to Iruka and then back to Naruto. “What’s happened?”

“No, nothing,” Naruto said, shaking his head a little.

The problem was, though, that he was getting a little dizzier the longer he stood there. He started to say something, but the feeling washed over him and he felt his eyes flutter. He fell forward and Kakashi caught him, and for that he was thankful. Then, the world faded out, and he didn’t know anything else.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Naruto woke up sometime later in a hospital room. He blinked and looked around, not seeing anyone around at the moment. He sat up a little, noting that he wasn’t really in much pain at all, and something started binging. He looked around frantically to find the source of the noise, but the door swung open and a blonde-haired woman with large breasts came into the room, looking at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, still trying to find the source of the noise. “I don’t know what I did.”

“It’s alright,” she said and turned off whatever was making noise. “I wanted to know when you were awake. I’m Tsunade. I’m the doctor who saw to you when you came in.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Wh-where’s everyone else?”

“Out in the waiting room. I can let them come see you once we have a little chat about your condition.”

Naruto looked at her, eyes wide. “Um, my condition?”

“You’ve been beaten up pretty severely, and I want to know what happened,” she said sternly.

“Oh, that, it’s nothing, I mean, maybe a little worse than normal, but…” he trailed off when he realized what he’d said.

“Worse than normal?” she asked.

Naruto looked down at his hands and saw that one was wrapped up. It had been a little swollen, he guessed. “Really, it’s nothing.”

“No, it’s something. You were taken into a foster home after your parents died. Since then, has someone in that family been hurting you?” she wanted to know.

He swallowed harshly again and sighed. “My foster father, Mizuki. He didn’t like me,” he finally told her.

“What about your foster mother?”

“She left him a while ago,” he responded, still staring at his hands. “He got worse, then.”

“Did he do anything else to you?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and watching him with serious eyes.

Naruto looked up and was confused for a minute. What else was she talking about? Then he realized what she must have meant. “Oh, no, nothing like that,” he said. “Mizuki never did anything like that. He just liked to hit me.”

“I think that’s quite enough. You’re over eighteen now. Why were you still there?” she leaned forward and checked his IV as she spoke.

“Well, I thought he’d do something to either get himself killed or get arrested,” he said sadly. “But he seemed to be lucky. I didn’t have anywhere else to go. I had a job and saved money without him knowing over the last year. I finally had enough to buy a bus ticket to Konoha, and I was hoping to find my godparents. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Tsunade shook her head and sighed. “Well, it’s good you found them. But you’re going to be staying here for a little while. That broken rib is serious, and I want to keep an eye on it. Your wriest was pretty swollen and sprained. You’ve got bruising elsewhere, but nothing that is threatening.” She paused, standing up and looking down at him. “If you’re feeling well enough, there’s three people in the waiting room wanting to see you.”

“Three?” Naruto asked, frowning at her.

“Yeah, seems Sasuke decided to stick around after he found you on the beach,” she said with a smile. I’ll send them in.”

“O-okay, thank you!” he said and watched her go.

Why would Sasuke have stayed? He had no reason to want to stay that Naruto knew of. He couldn’t imagine waiting on a stranger in the hospital for who knew how long. He was still thinking about it when the door opened and Kakashi, Iruka, and Sasuke came in.

“Naruto,” Kakashi said, coming over to the bed and grabbing the chair nearby to pull it up beside him. “I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“Um, yeah. I know it’s been a long time, and I’m sorry to just show up like this, but I didn’t know who to call, and all I had was a picture of all of us when I was little, and—”

“Calm down, it’s alright,” Kakashi said, giving him a gentle smile.

“How are you feeling? You scared us when you passed out like that,” Iruka said as he stepped up beside Kakashi.

“I’m okay. She said I had a broken rib, but I guess they gave me medicine because I can’t feel it,” he said. “I really made Mizuki mad this time.”

“What did you do to make him hurt you this bad?” Iruka asked, looking concerned.

“It was nothing,” Naruto said, face turning red at the thought of even telling someone what he’d been doing when Mizuki walked in the bedroom on him.

Iruka and Kakashi exchanged a look. “I see,” Kakashi said. “What are your plans?”

“I don’t have any. I told her that I saved enough for a bus ticket without him knowing, and I just remembered being happy in Konoha.” Naruto didn’t know what else to say.

“Well, you’re here now,” Kakashi said. “We have room for you to stay with us. We have a spare room you can stay in.”

“Thank you, but the doctor said she wanted me here to watch for a while, so I don’t know when I’ll leave,” Naruto told him.

Naruto glanced behind Kakashi and Iruka to see Sasuke was still there, standing against the door watching them. He wondered why he’d decided to stay. He didn’t mind because it had been very nice of Sasuke to help out as he had. He wanted to repay him somehow, so he was glad he’d stayed around.

“We should let you rest before the mayor comes and kicks us out,” Kakashi said as he stood.

“The mayor?” Naruto asked, frowning.

“Yeah, she volunteers here at the hospital and teaches, but Tsunade’s also the mayor of Konoha,” Iruka said with a grin.

“She’s amazing,” Naruto said and watched them go.

Sasuke paused and looked back. “See you later, idiot,” he said and left.

For some reason, Naruto felt his heart shoot to his throat and he couldn’t respond to him. He instead just watched him go.


	2. Beginnings

“Good morning, Naruto!” came a cheery voice.

Naruto opened his eyes and blinked, seeing a girl with pink hair and green eyes. She looked about the same age as he was, and she was wearing hospital scrubs that were blue colored. He looked over and saw the doctor, Tsunade had been her name. She was standing beside the door in her doctor’s coat and watching as the pink-haired girl checked his vitals.

“Um, hi there,” he said, trying to sit up but wincing at the pain in his side.

“I’m an intern here, Sakura Haruno. I work with Dr. Tsunade. How are you feeling?” she asked.

Naruto rubbed his ribs. “Sore, but I feel better than I did.”

“The medicine should be helping somewhat,” Sakura said.

“Oh, it is,” Naruto said as she checked everything and looked at the IV stand. “Um, do you know how long I’ll be in here?” he asked.

“A few days at least,” Tsunade spoke up from by the door. “I want to keep an eye on you for internal damage from the broken rib.”

“Um, have you seen anyone else today?” Naruto asked, frowning a little.

“Oh, Kakashi and Iruka? They said they’ll be by to see you this afternoon,” Tsunade told him as Sakura finished checking things over.

“And, um, what about Sasuke?” he stammered.

Sakura looked over at him. “Sasuke Uchiha?” she said.

“Oh, yes, he was with you when you came in, wasn’t he?” Tsunade said with a slight grin.

“Yeah, he helped me find Kakashi and Iruka. I never really got to thank him, you know, and I really should,” Naruto face reddened a little as he spoke.

Sakura looked back at Tsunade and saw the look on her face. “Oh, he did, did he?” she said and patted Naruto on the arm. “I’m friends with him. I could probably get him to come back by.”

“Oh, really?” Naruto said, eyes widening a little. “That would be great!”

“I’m surprised that you got along with him so well when you met him,” Sakura said. “He can be rather abrasive.”

“He’s really nice!” Naruto said, still a bit pink in the face. “He was good enough to help me find Kakashi and Iruka, and even took me to his house.”

“He did, did he?” Sakura asked, amused by Naruto’s gushing over Sasuke.

“Yeah, it looked like he was doing work in it, though,” Naruto continued. “There were covers on things inside there.”

“Yeah, he’s redoing the inside of the place. It’s a beach house that his family owned. He just moved there recently, actually,” she said.

“It’s a nice house. Is he doing all the work by himself?” Naruto asked.

“Nah, he’s got a few of friends that are helping him.”

“Oh, he has some friends?” Naruto asked, not thinking before he spoke.

“Yes, believe it or not. He comes off as kind of cold, but don’t let him fool you. He’s not like that once you get to know him,” she said with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t mean he didn’t have friends,” Naruto said, getting a little flustered now and blushing again. “I just mean—”

“I know, it’s okay,” Sakura said.

“They’ll be around with breakfast here in a few minutes,” Tsunade said as she looked at the vitals Sakura had taken down. “I’m sure you can find something to watch on tv to keep you entertained. We at least have cable here in the hospital.”

“Okay,” Naruto said, grabbing the remote. “I’ll do that.”

Naruto watched them go and turned on the tv to see if he could find something interesting to watch for a while. He settled on the history channel and found something about ancient buildings. Before long, they’d brought him both breakfast and lunch, and Sakura had been in again to check up on him. He was kind of tired, though, so he turned off the tv and settled down to go to sleep for a little while.

He woke up sometime later when he heard someone in the room again.

“Oh, you are awake,” he heard, and blinked to see that Iruka and Kakashi had come back.

He sat up a little to fast and groaned as it pained him. “Ouch!” he yelped.

“Careful!” Kakashi told him as he pulled a chair up beside the bed.

“Yeah, that hurts,” Naruto mumbled, rubbing his ribs gingerly. “I’m glad you came by though!”

“Yeah, we brought something to show you,” Iruka said with a gentle smile.

Kakashi pulled a book out of his bag he was carrying with him and handed it to Naruto. Naruto opened it and saw it was a photo album.

“This is from before they died!” he gasped, realizing he was looking at pictures of his mother and father.

“I have a lot of pictures of that time,” Kakashi said with a slight smile. “I thought you’d like to see them.”

“Yes, of course!” he said, flipping through the pages and looking at photos of his parents before he was born and then while his mom was pregnant, and then when he was a baby. There were other people in the photos too, like Kakashi and Iruka, and also another man that Kakashi seemed to be close to. “Who’s this?” he said, pointing out the man with dark hair and a severe look.

“That’s an old friend of mine,” Kakashi said, face turning a little sad. “Obito. He died in an accident before your parents died.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to bring it up,” Naruto said, feeling like he’d just brought up something he shouldn’t have. He was already sabotaging this relationship with his godparents by bringing up bad things. He had to stop that, otherwise they wouldn’t like him, and it was important that they like him. They were all he had after all.

“It’s alright. It’s been a long time,” Kakashi told him.

Naruto nodded, deciding not to ask about anyone else in the pictures just in case they made them sad or something. He paused and put a finger on his mom’s face and smiled. She looked so happy. So did his dad. They were mostly pictures of them on the beach and some of them with a surfboard in the background. Naruto seemed to remember Kakashi surfing.

“Do you surf still?” he asked, looking up.

“I do,” he said with a mild smile. “I’ve done some competitive surfing over the last few years. Some people say I’m pretty good at it,” Kakashi said.

“Pretty good!” Iruka said. “He’s understating things. He’s won several major competitions and has become rather famous around here.”

“Oh, wow, that’s so cool!” Naruto said, looking at him. “I can’t remember a lot about before they died, but I do remember the surfboard.

As he said it, he turned the page to see a picture of himself sitting on the surfboard in front of Kakashi. He smiled, guessing one of his parents was taking the picture. There were more with the surfboard in them, and with Naruto playing in the water with his mom or his dad. There were some at what looked like a local park of some sort. Suddenly, it all just hit him hard and he started crying.

“Naruto?” Kakashi asked, reaching over and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just keep thinking about how happy I was back then, and how things have been for the last few years with Mizuki…” Naruto wiped his eyes and tried to smile. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t cry because that’s over now and I’m here with you, so that’s better. At least, I hope it is,” he muttered the last, feeling a bit of trepidation at the words he was saying.

“Of course, it’s better,” Iruka said, not missing what he’d said at all.

“I hate to impose, though, so I understand if you don’t want me to stay with you. Wait, I don’t want to assume that you would want me to stay with you, I didn’t mean I thought that you would let me stay with you, I’m sorry—”

“Naruto, of course, you’ll stay with us,” Kakashi said, squeezing his shoulder.

“Sorry, I just don’t want to mess up,” Naruto said and looked between Kakashi and Iruka.

“You’re not going to mess up,” Iruka assured him. “There’s nothing to mess up. We’re your godparents, Naruto. We want to help you.”

Naruto managed a smile. “Oh, okay.”

“You can keep the album to look at while you’re in the hospital. You can bring it to our place when you get out of here. We’ve got a spare room you can use,” Kakashi said.

“Alright, thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I didn’t know what I was going to do once I got here, but I met Sasuke and then he took me to you, and that was really nice of him, but I didn’t get to say thank you to him before he left,” Naruto said in a rush of words.

“Well, Sasuke is our neighbor, so I’m sure you’ll see him again,” Iruka told him, exchanging a look with Kakashi.

“Do you know him very well?” Naruto asked, face turning a bit pink as he spoke.

“He’s in the same family as my friend Obito,” Kakashi said. “So, I know the family pretty well. Obito was raised by his grandmother, who was a cousin to Sasuke’s father. Sasuke recently lost his parents, actually.”

“Oh, no, he did?” Naruto said, face pinched in worry.

“Yeah, his parents were killed a few months ago in a robbery of their house,” Kakashi explained.

A wave of sadness passed over Naruto. “Gosh, that must be hard for him. I’ve had a long time to be used to not having them, but he’s just had it happen.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why he suddenly moved to the beach house next to us, but a few weeks ago he started staying there and then he started fixing it up. He used to live with his parents and his brother in their big house,” Iruka said.

“Wonder why he moved out?” Naruto mused as he looked through the album again.

“We’ll let you get some rest. Don’t want Dr. Tsunade getting on our case for bothering her patient too much,” Kakashi said as he stood up. “We’ll come and pick you up when she releases you.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a paper and handed it to Naruto. “This has our phone numbers on it, so you can call when you know something.”

“Alright, thank you again!” Naruto told them as they left.

He spent the rest of the day and most the next few days looking over the photos in the book. He even showed them to Sakura and Tsunade when they came to see him. He watched tv, which he was never allowed to do at home, and enjoyed the stay even with the constant interruptions. Eventually, Tsunade said she was releasing him, and he called Kakashi and Iruka to come pick him up. He was a bundle of nerves because this was his first time ever staying with someone else. Mizuki had never let him go to people’s houses before.

Kakashi and Iruka arrived before lunch to take him to their house. Naruto could barely sit still in the car on the way there because he was so excited. He was actually going to be staying with his godparents and getting to know them again. Mizuki had always told him that no one had wanted him, and that everyone abandoned him, but at his heart, he knew better. And now he knew he’d been right all along. He just had to hope he didn’t mess something up. He was the most worried about that because Mizuki said he always messed things up. He was trying to hard not to let Mizuki’s voice get to him, but he’d heard it for so many years, ignoring it was nearly impossible.

They pulled in and Naruto grabbed the grocery bag of clothes and got out of the car. He honestly didn’t remember much from being here the first time; he’d been in too much pain at the time. As they walked into the house, he started looking around in earnest. He saw a shelf with trophies on it in the living room, and there were framed newspaper and magazine articles on the walls. Strangely, there were also what looked like little kids’ arts and crafts on the walls in places. He knew they didn’t have any kids.

“Iruka teaches elementary school,” Kakashi said, noticing him looking at one of the crafts that Iruka had brought home that the kids made for him.

“Oh, okay,” Naruto said as he continued to look around.

Other than the wall decorations, the rest of the house was smartly decorated with modern styled furniture. There were two sofas in the living room before a coffee table and a large tv. He could see the dining room had a nice wooden table and chairs. Kakashi led him to a room and opened the door to it. It was their spare room, with a large, plush covered bed. The covers were a dark red color and it looked nice against the wood off the bed frame. There was a matching dresser with a large mirror over it on the side of the room, and he could see a closet.

“The bathroom is just outside and to the left,” Iruka said. “We’ll let you get settled in and put your clothes away. We’ll be in the dining room when you’re done with lunch.”

“Okay, thank you again!” Naruto said as they left.

He went over to the dresser and opened the drawers and began to put his clothes in them. It felt strange and homely to be putting his clothes in this place. He pulled out the old photo he had of all of them together and he put it on the dresser in the crease of the mirror, so it stood up there. He smiled at it and sighed.

“I’m doing something with my life, mom and dad. And Kakashi and Iruka are going to help me. Just like you would have wanted.”

He stood there a minute then went out to go to the dining room. He could smell food already, so he guessed they had made lunch earlier before they’d gone to get him at the hospital. He came into the dining room to find three places set out and Kakashi and Iruka already sitting there waiting for him. He smiled as he sat down.

“Wow, this looks amazing!” he exclaimed.

He hadn’t really sat down to a family type meal in a long time, so it was something for him to do so now. He was rather hungry, so he started eating, then stopped.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I should wait for you,” he said, looking over at Kakashi and Iruka, who both looked amused by it.

“No, eat, that’s what I made it for,” Iruka said, smiling.

They ate in silence for a little while, then Naruto looked up. “Um, so has anything changed in Konoha since I’ve been gone?” he asked.

Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I seem to remember you loved Ichiraku Ramen, do you remember it?”

“Oh yeah!” he exclaimed. “I remember going to the noodle place.”

“Well, it moved locations, but it’s still around. We’ll have to take you to it again. Otherwise, no much has changed.”

“So, that doctor, she’s the mayor too?” he said as he finished eating.

“Yeah, she’s pretty nice, if scary at times. She’s good friends with the man that raised me from the time I was a kid, Jiraiya.” Iruka stood up and began to pick up the plates. “He used to get on her nerves when they were younger, but they’re still good friends.”

“Is Jiraiya still around?” Naruto wanted to know.

“Oh, yeah, he’s the police chief, actually. I’m sure you’ll meet him at some point. He comes by to see us now and then,” Iruka said before he disappeared into the kitchen with the dishes.

“You didn’t say what happened that caused Mizuki to get angry enough to break your ribs. What could have caused such a violent reaction?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto’s face turned pink and he looked down. “Um, well, he kind of walked in on me watching something I shouldn’t have been watching.”

Kakashi arched a brow as Iruka returned to sit down again. “What in the world could you have been watching that caused him to get that upset?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked up from his hand. “Um, it was porn.”

“I can’t imagine Mizuki having such an issue with porn,” Iruka said. “I knew him when we were both younger, and I know he’s seen stuff like that.”

“Well, it was what _kind _of porn it was that he didn’t like,” Naruto mumbled just barely loud enough to be heard. “It had guys and girls in it. And the guys, you know, did stuff with each other.”

Kakashi exchanged a look with Iruka and sighed. “I see.”

“H-he didn’t like it and told me some bad things about watching it, and he was really mad about it.” Naruto didn’t know what else to say about it.

“Naruto, it’s okay to want to watch people like that. It’s a normal thing. Are you interested in guys like that?” Kakashi asked gently.

“Um, I like guys and girls, I think. I don’t think it matters much, you know, if someone’s a guy or a girl. I like who I like, and that’s it,” he said, looking up finally.

“Oh, don’t mean to change the subject, but it’s a nice day if you wanted to walk on the beach for a while. You might come across Sasuke again,” Iruka said.

Naruto smiled immediately. “You think he’d be out?”

“He might be. He takes walks now and then around lunchtime,” Kakashi told him.

“Okay, I’ll go see!” Naruto said, getting up quickly. “Um, thank you for lunch, I’ll be back soon!”

Kakashi and Iruka watched him leave, glancing at each other as he did. Both of them saw the reaction to Sasuke’s name, and both of them knew well what it meant.

Naruto got outside and looked over. He could see Sasuke’s house easily from Kakashi and Iruka’s place. He didn’t see him out, so he went down to the beach and crouched at the edge of the water for a while. He was still looking out on the sea when he heard someone walking up to him. He turned and saw it was Sasuke. He jumped up immediately and waved at him as he approached.

“So, you got out of the hospital,” Sasuke said as he came up to him. Naruto saw that he was wearing shabby clothes that were spotted with paint here and there.

“Yeah, just today! I’m staying in Kakashi and Iruka’s house for now. I was hoping I’d see you again. I didn’t get to say thank you properly,” Naruto said, watching Sasuke’s face carefully.

“Thank you? For what? I just took you to Kakashi’s house. No big deal,” Sasuke shrugged.

“No, you didn’t have to do it, and I appreciate it,” Naruto continued.

“Whatever,” Sasuke said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking away.

“Um, do you come out here a lot?” Naruto asked, chewing his lip for a second.

Sasuke arched a brow. “Yeah, since I live right there.”

“Oh, I met a girl named Sakura. She said she knew you. She was helping at the hospital.”

“Yeah, I know Sakura.” He looked down the beach and Naruto wondered what he was thinking about.

Naruto chuckled a bit nervously. “I remember Kakashi’s surfboard a lot from when I was a kid. It feels weird to be here again because all my memories of my parents seem to be part of the beach.”

“That’s interesting. Most my memories of my parents are tied to the house we lived in,” Sasuke said.

“I’m sorry,” Naruto said suddenly, realizing what he’d brought up.

“Sorry? For what?” Sasuke snapped at him.

“For talking about that. Kakashi said you’d just lost your parents a while ago. I didn’t mean to say something to make you feel bad,” Naruto felt terrible for having even brought up the subject of parents.

Sasuke didn’t speak for a while, and Naruto wondered if he’d made him mad. “Ah, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“Sakura said you’re fixing up the house you’re in,” Naruto changed the subject.

“Yeah, it was in need of some updates. Mostly just cosmetic stuff. Wallpaper and paint, you know,” Sasuke told him.

They were quiet for a few minutes as they both looked out on the ocean. Naruto looked at him. “What made you move here? I mean, if it’s okay to ask.”

Sasuke turned back to him and nodded. “Yeah, it’s okay to ask,” he told him. “I sort of had a mental breakdown I guess you could say. I needed to get away from that house where my parents lived, so I came here.”

“The ocean is a good place to lose yourself,” Naruto nodded. “I remember it a lot from when I was little.”

“I guess,” Sasuke said. “You want to get a drink?” he asked. “I’ve got a couple friends up at the house helping me paint today. I can introduce you.”

“Really?” Naruto said, feeling a little anxious at the thought of meeting more people.

“Yeah, come on,” Sasuke said and motioned for him to follow.

Naruto nodded, following Sasuke up to the house. He was still nervous about meeting more people, but at least he looked better now without the bruise on his face. Sasuke brought him into the house and he could hear talking already. They came into the kitchen/dining room area where three others were in various positions around the room.

Sasuke pointed to a guy with white hair who turned purple colored eyes on them. “This is Suigetsu,” he said. Then he pointed to a girl with bright red hair. “And this is Karin.” Finally, he pointed to the last one, another guy, this one taller than the others with orangish colored hair. “This is Jūgo. Guys, this is Naruto, the guy I told you about that was on the beach wandering around like an idiot.”

Naruto felt his face warm up but he nodded. “Hi there,” he said.

“Oh, so _you’re _Naruto?” Jūgo said as he looked over at him. “Sasuke mentioned you.”

Karin walked over to him and looked at him with a critical eye. “You’re not bad looking, I suppose,” she said.

Naruto had no idea why she was commenting on his looks, but he was glad he seemed to pass whatever criteria she had or what he was supposed to look like. “Um, thank you?” he muttered.

“Leave him alone, Karin. You’re gonna scare him off,” Suigetsu said as he put the paintbrush he was holding down.

“Anyway, I brought him up because he was down on the beach again,” Sasuke said as he stepped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to pull out a pitcher. “I thought he could have a glass of lemonade with us.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Suigetsu said, walking over where the others were all standing now together. “So, Naruto, Sasuke said you’d been away from Konoha for a while.”

“Um, yeah, I was living elsewhere with my foster father,” Naruto answered as Sasuke handed him a glass of the yellow drink.

Sasuke didn’t pour a glass for anyone else, and no one there said anything about it. Suigetsu smiled, looking over at Sasuke and then back to Naruto. “What do you plan on doing here now that you’re in Konoha?”

Naruto sipped the lemonade and thought about it. “I don’t really know yet. Right now I’m staying with Kakashi and Iruka, and getting to know Konoha again.”

“What do you like to do?” Karin asked. “I’m a perfume collector,” she smiled.

“Well, I thought I could maybe learn to surf. I mean, since Kakashi is so good at it, and I remember watching him when I was really little. But I have to ask him about it. Do any of you surf?”

“I like free diving,” Suigetsu said. “I study marine life too, that’s what I’m going to school for, marine biology. Sasuke likes to scuba dive with me sometimes.”

Naruto turned to Sasuke. “Really? That’s cool. I’ve never done that. But then I didn’t get to do much fun with my foster father.”

“Well, you’re not there now, so might as well get used to doing things you want to do,” Sasuke said, taking Naruto’s empty glass from him.

“Yeah, you’re right. I get to do what I want now, without him telling me what I can’t do anymore,” Naruto said, nodding and crossing his arms.

“Want to help paint?” Sasuke said. “We’re almost done with the dining room. Next will be the living room.”

Naruto looked up at him. “Um, well, sure. Let me go find a different set of clothes. This is some of my best.”

“That’s your best?” Sasuke said, arching his brows. “You need to go clothes shopping.”

“Uh, yeah, I didn’t have a lot when I came here, so I’ll have to get new stuff.” Naruto smiled. “I’ll be back!”

He ran back to Kakashi and Iruka’s house and without stopping to explain, went to the bedroom and found his raggediest set of clothes and changed really quickly. He came out and saw Iruka staring at him.

“I’m helping Sasuke paint!” he announced as he ran back out the door again.

Naruto ended up spending most the day with Sasuke and his friends, helping him finish the dining room. They ordered pizza and Naruto got to stay and share with them at their request. If he noticed the fact the others kept pushing him closer to Sasuke, he didn’t say anything about it, and he certainly didn’t mind.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Kisame Hoshigaki attracted attention because of his grayish skintone. It was an unusual trait, one that he’d had since he was a child due to his parents believing that colloidal silver was a cure all. Use of the substance had made his skin turn a permanent grayish color. Right now, though, he was going to see his boss, Danzō Shimura. He wondered what sort of mission he would have for him next.

“Enter,” came the voice from the other side of the door after he knocked.

He came into the office to find Danzō sitting at the desk, looking over some paperwork.

“You wanted to see me, boss?” he said as he dropped his large frame into the chair across from Danzō.

“Yes, seems I’m going to need to increase the pace of my plans. Orochimaru is out of prison, and he is rumored to have pledged to work on the side of the law from now on. I can’t allow him to stop my plans, so the time has come to accelerate things,” Danzō said.

“Alright, what do you want me to do?” Kisame asked, arching a brow and staring across the desk.

“Kakashi Hatake and Iruka Umino have turned down my latest offer to buy that property. So, it’s time to do something to get them out of Konoha for once and for all. I want you to start a nice little rumor that Umino has been inappropriate with some of his students.”

“Inappropriate? Doesn’t he teach little kids?” Kisame frowned.

“He does, and it will make the accusation all the more damaging. If we can get people to believe that Umino has done something wrong with those kids, they’ll turn on him and they’ll be begging me to buy that space,” Danzō said proudly.

“Alright, I can see what I can do. I know some people that can probably get something like that started,” Kisame nodded. Kisame had been in and out of jail ever since he was a teenager, so he had plenty of illicit contacts in the town of Konoha.

“I also need the Uchihas to sell me their beach house. I would have thought with the death of their parents, Itachi and Sasuke would have been wanting to lessen their load. Sasuke, though, seems to have taken up residence in the house for now. Itachi has denied my overtures ever since their parents were killed. This is the opposite effect I was hoping for.” Danzō sighed. “But we still have the problem with Jiraiya and Tsunade. Between the two of them, they are keeping most of my plans at bay. But if I can move the rest of the city council to my side, the mayor will have little choice but to do as they say.”

“Ah, gotcha, boss,” Kisame said. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

Kisame left to go talk to a few people and see if he couldn’t stir up some trouble. It was what he was best at, after all.


End file.
